Yum Brands shares are up today, after the company reported first-quarter sales figures for its Chinese operations that were, well, they were bad, but they weren’t as bad as the company had forecast. They even included a little silver lining that has some hoping the company is past the worst of the December chicken scare at its KFC chains.

Yum Brands reported that its same-store sales in China were down 20% in the quarter; yes, that’s awful. But the company had projected sales would be down 25%. That’s not much of a difference, but it is a difference, and the company reported that same-store sales rose in February, so if you’re a shareholder, you can hope that the worst of this scare is over.

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